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Thursday, March 10, 2011

The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive. Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision.....
Because I live in Arizona (a desert wasteland of endless heat) I always imagine living in a place with snow and blizzards would be fun. A sort of adventure of sorts. You get stuck in your house for a few days, eat lots of soup, watch lots of movies, and read lots of books. Well this book has totally ruined my preconceived notion of snowstorms. They aren't fun. They aren't enjoyable. They are dangerous and gosh darn it they are SCARY!!!! Oh and cold. Don't forget cold.

Lessons to be learned from this book:
1. Do not venture into a blizzard even if you are trapped in a highschool with seven teenagers and you're the only adult. You will die. DIE!!! Its just a bad idea.
2. You better start liking PB&J now because that could be all you have during a crazy snowstorm. That and artificial meat products which, as we all know, are fairly disgusting. :P
3. If the snow gets about 10 feet high you can bet that there will be no cell phone reception. So don't go sticking your phone out of a window to see if the reception is better outside. You'll probably drop it and lose it in the snow and then oh my gosh no more flashlight app!
4. Always stick extra food and clothing in your locker at school. You never know when it might come in handy.
5. And last but certainly not least, when there is a huge blizzard coming your way don't decide to hang out at school working on a go kart instead of going home! And don't lie to your teachers! The outcome could be disastrous.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this book. I know some people will fault it because of its stereotypical characters but I thought the premise was cool and overall the story was well executed. I also liked that the narrator was a guy. Its always cool to read books from a guys perspective. So entertaining! The one thing I thought was weird was that they set up a fire in a can in the school bathroom and just left it there with no one watching it. What if the can somehow tipped over? What if the fire got out of hand? THE SCHOOL COULD BURN DOWN!!! Seriously I just kept thinking that while reading. Isn't it common sense not to leave a fire unattended in a building? I guess when you're trapped in a building with 18 feet of snow outside then a fire is the least of your worries? I don't know.

I really enjoyed Trapped. The characters could have had more depth to them and the ending seemed a little rushed for me but overall it was an engaging and fast read. I give Trapped 4 out of 5 ice cream cones!

I will definitely never look at blizzards/snowstorms the same way again!